Equity Payments
My husband and I used to shop regularly at the East co-op when we lived in the neighborhood and were active owners. I thought we paid our household equity in full at the time of becoming owners, and the other day I was in (after not being at the co-op for a long while) and was told we had an equity payment due. Can someone educate me on the equity payments – is it a recurring annual fee? How much are the equity payments?
Thank you for reaching out about your Owner account and about equity payments and how they work. An equity payment (investment) is a set amount that once you reach the total investment you never need to make a payment on your account again. You and your husband have a Household account which requires $91 of equity be invested in it to be paid-in-full. You have the option to pay your equity all at once or pay it off at any time, but we do require a minimum $13 equity payment be made each year until your account is paid off. Each equity payment incurs a $2 admin fee so, if possible, it is to your benefit to pay off your equity in fewer payments.The last thing I want to share about equity that differentiates us from other paid membership sort of stores is that the equity you invest is held in your name as long as you have an account with us and it belongs to YOU. If at any time you want to stop shopping or close your account, you can choose to have that equity refunded to you or you can donate it to the Co-op to use for charitable giving. The Co-op does not keep this money! Therefore, there is no disadvantage to paying off your account vs. making a once a year payment. And, it makes it so that you no longer have to worry about or be surprised by the once a year payment. I hope this is helpful, but please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions or need clarification. -Rosalyn Murphy, Board Executive Assistant/Owner Records Administrator
Bike to Work Week
Hard to believe that Willy St. Coop, being involved in community events, that Bike shopping credit would not be allowed on Sundays of Bike Week (01 – 08 June). I don’t need the credit, it’s just strange that you don’t partake in this.
Thanks for your question! Because of the large number of biking customers we have, we can’t afford to offer a Bike Benefits discount seven days a week. To be honest, I’ve never considered extending it all week long for Bike to Work Week, but I will for next year. -Brendon Smith, Marketing & Communications Director
Tofu Breakfast Empanadas
The new tofu breakfast empanadas are yummy! Thanks for all the vegan options!
I got your positive comment about the vegan empanadas and vegan options available on the hot bar; you are so welcome! Tell your vegan friends about the empanadas! -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Seedling Pots
Can I return the seedlings pots to be reused?
Thanks for contacting us with your question. Unfortunately, the growers can not reuse the plant/seedling pots so we do not take them back at our stores. -Sara Berg, General Merchandise Category Manager
Bulk Info
I miss the source info on the bulk beans and grains. I want to know where my food is coming from. This is very important to me!
A colleague from Willy North reached out to me and told me you were concerned about the lack of country of origin information on some of our Bulk bins. They also said you filled out a customer comment form about this issue but never heard back. I am sorry no one got back to you. We have not been able to maintain the country of origin data and update it in a timely manner, and found that often the information we had on our bins was incorrect. The issue is twofold: the country of origin of these products can change without any warning and we have not had enough time to keep it up to date. Rather than put false info on the Bulk bins, we chose to exclude it until we can make sure it is accurate. The website for the distributor we use to get the Bulk garbanzo beans is down right now. When it is back up I will see what it says about the country of origin for the product and get back to you with that info. -Dean Kallas, Grocery Category Manager
Fresh Juice Bar
I really miss your “fresh juice bar”!!! Maybe just try 1 day a week to see how it all goes. Or 3 x for a month!
I received your customer comment about the juice bar. We looked at running just a partial menu and pulling the days of production back, but it was ultimately determined that we cannot do it. Sorry, many of us still miss the juice! -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Bakery at the Co-op
The Bakery section at Willy Street East is so nice. I would love to see this at the West location.
Thank you for your feedback regarding the bakery section at our West location. We’re happy to share that we will be receiving a new fresh bakery case this July. In the meantime, if there are any specific items you currently purchase at our East location that you’d like to see offered here at West, please let us know. We’d be happy to work with our vendors to try and make those products available.Thanks again for your valuable feedback, and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. -Pete Silver, Willy West Prepared Foods Manager
Coffee Cup Lids
For years, I’ve enjoyed the Just Coffee at the coffee bar. Recently, however, I have not enjoyed the shower of coffee pouring through the clumsy lids. Yesterday, I had to drive home on my lunch break after an especially catastrophic explosion doused my pants. Surely, there is another fully compostable coffee lid out there that can actually do the job of keeping the coffee inside the cup. Please investigate.
I just received your email about the leaky lids. I am so sorry about what happened. I am having our East team dig into this and get me confirmation on the lid and cup item numbers we have in stock. Our vendor has an order guide that provides the corresponding item to each item, so when it comes to lids and cups we make sure we have the right ones and they fit. I’ll make sure they are the correct ones. If they are not, we will get the correct ones in stock. If they are, I will contact our supplier who will get in touch with the manufacturer and figure out if we have a bad batch. An alternative option for you in the meantime, while I want us to be able to provide you with adequate cups, I wanted to let you know you’re welcome to bring your own cup or thermos in; we’ll even give you 15¢ off your coffee purchase each time for bringing your own cup. -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Whole Chicken in Plastic Bags
Why did you switch to putting your whole chickens in plastic bags!!? I loved your chickens, but will no longer be purchasing them. Plastic plastic everywhere, but not for hot foods sitting for hours! I never heat up anything in plastic. Please switch back to the old containers. Plus you can no longer see the chickens to pick the one you want.
I received your feedback about the roasted chickens being packaged in plastic bags. I’d like to provide you with some context for this decision. A little over a year ago another category manager and I secured a supply line for a superior brand (Bell & Evans) of chicken than we had been working with over the previous several years. That change came with an increased cost to us, but something that made it more manageable was that they would provide us with packaging for our whole roasted chickens for free. I will say North didn’t make this change immediately, as they had backstock of old packaging to get through.This helped, but not entirely, subsidize our increased cost of goods, and allowed me to keep the price at $10.99. After receiving your comment, I looked at what it would take to return to the previous packaging we used. With the cost of that packaging I would need to bring the price up a full dollar (to $11.99). At a time when so many shops are raising prices, and with so much uncertainty around tariffs and inflation, I am doing as much as I can to avoid it, and do not feel comfortable raising prices where I can avoid doing so. I understand that the chicken is less visible in the bags than the previous packaging, however, the previous packaging was entirely plastic as well and was actually more weight and volume of plastic than the bags we’re currently using. Additionally, when I discussed this issue with the team they also brought up that with the handles on the chicken bags we do see an uptick in the number of people leaving just carrying out of the store by the handle instead of putting them in a paper bag at check out, which saves on the number of paper bags we’re sending out as well. I’d also like to assure you, even though the bags are FDA approved to hold hot product (and can also be used in the microwave to reheat product), that we do not heat the chickens in these bags, they are only used for hot holding after the chickens are already cooked. The manufacturer also let us know that the bags are graded to be able to hold product up to 200ºF, and our hot holding is well below that temperature. I will continue to monitor the issue, but at this time we are going to continue with the branded bags for our whole roasted chickens. -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Madame Chu Classes
I spoke to Madame Chu at the Saturday Farmers Market. I suggested that she conduct a class on using her sauces. I especially like the Staya Peanut Nyonya. She proceeded to tell me how to use it, in combination with other ingredients and serve with noodles. She is aware of Aubergine, and thought it was a good place to use.
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll reach out to Josey to see about scheduling a class featuring her sauces. -Liz Hawley, Education and Outreach Coordinator
